News release

Solicitors: national campaign launched on questions of trust

We have launched a national ‘A question of trust’ campaign to give everyone a chance to have their say about action taken against those solicitors who fall short of the expected standards.

Members of the public, charities and consumer representatives have been invited to the campaign’s launch event at the Baltic Centre in Gateshead. It’s all part of our initiative asking questions about issues of trust, professional standards and effective regulation. It will run until the end of January 2016.

Paul Philip, our Chief Executive, said: “We regulate in the public interest, so it’s important that we ask the public what really matters to them when using a solicitor and what should happen when things go wrong. We want people to have their say on issues that we tackle every day.

“Their views will feed into our regulatory model and help us to deliver consistent decisions that meet the expectations of both the public and the profession."

Over the next few months, we will be holding around 30 events across England and Wales seeking views through an interactive voting session. People attending will be asked to vote on how seriously they view different situations where solicitors have failed to uphold professional standards at work or in their private lives. And at the same time as the public launch, the Legal Services Consumer Panel will be voting on the seriousness of the scenarios, feeding in to the overall picture.

As part of developing the campaign, in July, we asked 10,000 solicitors to take part in an 'A question of trust' online survey of the profession. An online survey for the general public has gone live as part of the next stage of the campaign. Legal professionals can also take part in this wider survey.

A formal consultation on issues at the heart of 'A question of trust' is part of the campaign and runs until 31 January 2016. All feedback will help to build a reference framework, which will support decision making and transparency.

Note to editors

More information about 'A question of trust' together with a news video is available here: